


balance to the world

by vifetoile



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Genre: Cooking, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vifetoile/pseuds/vifetoile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wind is not the only element he awakens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	balance to the world

Link has glimpsed two-hundred-year old treasures; stores of gold that would make a merchant weep and proclaim himself king; dazzling jewels shining with deep color. But for the life of him, he’s never seen any treasure as wonderful as a clear, bubbling spring. Ocean water is heavy with salt and its smell pervades his entire life. You can’t drink it, you can’t wash with it, you can’t cook nor water your garden with it. He loves the ocean, and he loves its water for bearing him up, but when he clears away a spring on an uncharted island, he warms with pride.

ooo

He’s never really learned to use matches. He is, however, a dab hand at the cooking pot. He learned at his Grandma’s knee. He burned his hand as a little boy, so he’s always been wary and respectful of even the littlest kitchen flame. He doesn’t even bring a brazier on the King of Red Lions, so his meals on the sea consist of biscuits, dried fruit, and jerky. But he makes up for this austere fare when he visits his friends. He always offers his service as a chef, and if his friends have doubts, they’re dispelled by one mouthful. After the meal, they all sit close by the hearth and swap yarns, letting the light throw up huge, flickering shadows on the walls behind them. Those evenings create memories warm enough for even the coldest night on the open sea.

ooo

Link has many sterling qualities, but, to his own chagrin, he has to admit he’s not particularly imaginative. When the Great Deku Tree describes “forests” stretching from horizon to horizon, Link has a hard time picturing it. The closest he can get is seeing the Great Deku Tree as a sort of gardener, planting flowers the size of buildings on a plot the size of the world.  
But the Great Deku Tree cannot move, so Link has to be his hands and eyes – and his watering can.  
It’s a tough gig, towing water in record time from the southerly Forest Haven to the far flung trees. Link doesn’t mind, though. When he sets his hand to the sapling’s roots, and feels the plant holding fast to the soil, quickening with life, he realizes the joy of earth, and he thinks he’s something of a gardener, himself.


End file.
